The privateer Rattlesnake was built in Plymouth, MA in 1780. Despite her moderate size of 89 feet on deck, she was fast and weatherly. She sailed with 85 men, carried twenty 6-pounders and captured over a million dollars worth of British goods on her first cruise, establishing a reputation as a formidable vessel.

The British ordered her captured at any cost. She was seized by the 44-gun HMS Assurance in 1783, sent to England and taken into the Royal Navy. She was sold out of service in 1786.